On August 13, 2017, the group Patriot Prayer held a rally in Westlake Park. Their mission, according to the event Facebook page, was as follows: “Seattle us running our state with a pedophile as a mayor. The West Coast has slowly been infected with communist ideologies throughout our entire culture. It is a belief that the individual is weak and that we are all victims. This is the lie of the century. No matter who you are, we are all amazing people with the ability to do anything that we put our minds to. These liberal strongholds run off of hatred and negativity. Patriot Prayer will bring in a positive message to Seattle that the people are starving for.” The day before the rally was scheduled to take place, a terrorist drove a car into a crowd of anti-fascist protestors in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing Heather Heyer. This event dramatically increased the tension between Patriot Prayer and a scheduled anti-fascist counter protest (called the Solidarity Against Hate Rally). Many attendees of the Patriot Prayer rally wore quasi-military gear and waved pro-Trump flags. At least four members of the white-supremacist group The Proud Boys were present, identifiable by their black and yellow Fred Perry polo shirts.